Timed bottom feed magazine



Oct. 22, 1968 H. J. (3055 TIMED BOTTOM FEED MAGAZINE 2 Sheets-Shem l Filed Dec.

INVENTOR.

HAROLD J 6083 AT E4: w

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wig E z ATTORNEYS Oct. 22, 1968 H. J. 6055 TIMED BOTTOM FEED MAGAZINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

INVENTOR.

HAROLD J. GOSS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,406,963 TIMED BOTTOM FEED MAGAZINE Harold J. Goss, Nashua, N.H., assignor to The International Paper Box Machine Company, Nashua, NH, a corporation of New Hampshire Filed Dec. 3, 1965, Ser. No. 511,376

6 Claims. (Cl. 2714-35) This invention relates to an improved bottom feed magazine for use in timed feeding of sheets individually and successively from the bottom of a stack onto the paper line of a sheet treating machine.

The bottom feed magazine of this invention is especially useful as an attachment for a timed box folder and gluer of a type much in use in the trade and conventionally equipped with an end feed magazine below the paper line of the machine. The end feed magazine supports sheets,

or box blanks, of bendable material with the sheets vertically disposed and standing on end so that a suction arm may bend the leading edge of each endmost sheet into the nip of the feed rolls of the machine. However, non-bendable sheets, such as corrugated board, cannot be so bent and are not usable in such an end feed magazine.

To permit the folding and glueing of non-bendable paperboard on machines of this type, the bottom feed magazine disclosed herein may be moved up to the conventional machine on a lift truck, attached in advance of the end feed magazine and placed in operation with a minimum of adjustment to permit the timed registration of the sheets, without using a suction feed. The bottom feed magazine makes use of a plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending feed belt units, normally below the plane of the bottom of the magazine and below the paper line, but liftable in unison above the paper line to firmly engage over substantially the entire underface of the lowermost sheet in the stack. Having secured a firm frictional grip on the underface, the sheet-contacting stretches of the belts advance the sheet in the direction of feed, through the magazine gateway, or outlet, and into the grip of the feed roll nip of the machine. The feed belt units then retract in unison, to below the plane of the magazine bottom until timed actuation again lifts them into contact with the next successive lowermost sheet.

The principal object of the invention is therefore to produce an improved, timed bottom feed magazine, free of costly suction cup mechanism, and arranged for quick attachment to a folder-gluer for timed friction feed of corrugated sheets into said machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a timed friction belt sheet feeder in which the sheet-contacting stretches of the belts are normally below the level of the magazine bottom but are liftable in unison to instantaneously firmly engage the adjacent face of a sheet and frictionally advance it through a magazine outlet without slippage, misfeed or damage to the sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel elevating mechanism for a plurality of friction feed belt stretches which causes the stretches to move in unison,

3,406,953 Patented Oct. 22, 1968 and in parallelism, from below the paper line to above the paper line thereby jogging the stack while simultaneously securing a firm friction grip over a large area of each successive lowermost sheet in a stack.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, the description of the drawings, and from the drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the detachable bottom feed magazine of the invention mounted in advance of the end feed magazine of a folder-gluer;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale of the bottom feed magazine of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation of the magazine shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the magazine of the invention with parts broken away; and

FIGURE 5 is a still further enlarged plan view of one of the friction feed units of the invention with the belt removed for clarity.

As shown in the drawings, 30 designates a conventional sheet treatment machine such as the FZ, or Swifty, folder-gluer made by The International Paper Box Folding Machine Company of Nashua, New Hampshire, and well known in the trade. Such machines are conventionally equipped with an end feed magazine 31 including a suction cup arm 32, which grips the leading edge of each endmost blank of bendable paperboard and bends it away from the stack into the grip of the nip 33 of the feed rolls 34 and 35 for positive, timed registration. It will be seen that a non-bendable sheet, or blank of corrugated board, if vertically disposed on end in magazine 31 cannot be bent through an angle of to enter the nip 33 and travel along the horizontal paper line 36 without damage to the sheet.

The bottom feed magazine 38, of this invention may be stored on a suitable cradle 39, proximate machine 20 until ready for use. When a run of corrugated board blanks is required, the cradle 39 and magazine 38 are placed in position, in advance of the magazine 31 by lift truck 40, the rearward portion of the magazine being supported by the adjustable legs such as 41. A pair of angularly adjustable, telescopable swing arms, such as 42, are also provided for supporting the rearward portion of a stack 43 of unusually lengthy corrugated sheets, or blanks. Each rod 42 includes a freely revolvable roller 44 for engaging the underface 45 of each successive lowermost sheet 46 in the stack. The forward portion of bottom feed magazine 38 includes detachable means 47, by which it hangs from the frame of machine 30. Means 47 includes a pair of brackets, such as 48, each fixed to an opposite side of the frame, and a pair of pins, such as 49, each insertable in registering holes 50 in the brackets 48 and the adjacent side wall 51 or 52 of the magazine 38. The magazine 38 may be tilted if desired to conform to an inclined paper line on certain machines by raising and lowering the adjustable legs 41, but is shown with a horizontal paper line in extension of the horizontal paper line 36 for clarity and ease of description.

The bottom feed magazine 38 includes sheet segregation means 54 consisting of at least one gate 55, mounted for vertical adjustment in a conventional manner to form a sheet gateway, or magazine outlet, 56, on the paper line 36, just opposite the nip 33 of the feed rolls 34 and 35. The gateway 56 is adapted to pass the leading edge of each successive lowermost sheet 46 in the stack 43, so that double feeding of the fiat, corrugated paperboard sheets cannot take place. An easily replaceable finger 58 forms the lower terminus of gate 55, the finger 58 having a rearward tapered face 59 to assist in fanning out and segregating the lowermost sheets in the stack. Magazine 38 also includes a plurality of laterally spaced, longitudinally extending bottom bars, such as 61, each having a plurality of freely revolvable rollers, such as 62, journalled therein. The underface 45 of each lowermost sheet 46 is thus supported at the level of the paper line 36, and the plane of the tops of the rollers 62 forms the fixed plane of the magazine bottom which plane is preferably horizontal, although it may be inclined slightly from horizontal without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Between each adjacent pair of stack supports, or roll carrying bars, 61, there is a space such as 63 for accommodating the feed means of the invention.

At least one friction feed unit 65 is provided in the space 63, and preferably, as shown, a plurality of such units 65 are alternated with the stack supports 61 entirely across the magazine bottom, each in a space between adjacent stack supports. Each friction feed unit 65 includes a pair of longitudinally spaced, circular, belt pulleys, 66 and 67, preferably of the flanged type, for supporting the upper stretch 68 of an endless, resilient friction belt 69, of rubber or thelike. The pulleys, 66 and 67, are stated to be circular in order to distinguish from rotatable friction feed devices in which a raised protuberance on a belt pulley periodically moves a belt portion of corresponding length into contact with a sheet. Such devices cannot run doubles without changing the belt speed and have other disadvantages such as belt Wear and fatigue, slippage and the like.

Elevation mechanism 71 is provided, for each pair of pulleys of each friction feed unit, in the form of a pair of crank arms, 72 and 73, each having one end, 74 or 75, fast to one of a pair of laterally extending rock shafts, 76 and 77, and each rotatably supporting one of the pulleys, 66 or 67, at the other end, as by a suitable stub shaft, or pin, 78 or 79. Rock shafts 76 and 77 are journalled in hearings in the opposite side walls 51 and 52 of magazine 38 in a manner described hereinafter. A pair of toothed segments, 81 and 82, are provided, each fast to one of the rock shafts 76 or 77, the teeth being inter-meshed so that all of the crank arms of all of the feed units are pivoted upwardly in unison and pivoted downwardly in unison, to thereby move all of the friction feed units vertically upwardly and downwardly in parallelism with the bottom of the magazine.

The timed mechanism 83 of the invention includes the cam arm 84 fast to one of the rock shafts, such as 76, and having a roller cam follower 85 at the terminal end thereof in operable engagement with the cam face 86 of the rotatable timing cam 87. As shown, cam 87 includes two raised portions, 88 and 89, for actuating the feed units twice in each revolution. Cam 87 is fast to shaft 90 and shaft 90 is driven by gear 91, which is meshed with gear 92. The two portions 88 and 89 permit two up operation and if one up operation is desired for elongated blanks, the cam 87 is quickly replaceable with a similar cam having only one raised portion.

Drive means 94 includes a pair of longitudinally spaced, laterally extending drums, 95 and 96, each journalled in the side walls, 51 and 52, of magazine 38, and each having a drive sprocket, 97 or 98. Sprocket 98 is a compound sprocket drivingly connected to sprocket 97 by chain 93 and driven by a chain 99, which, in turn, is driven by a drive sprocket 100 powered by, and synchronized with, the drive of machine 30. The gear 92 is fast to the shaft carrying sprocket 98 for turning cam 87 at a predetermined speed relative to the speed of the drums and of the machine 30. Each friction feed belt 69, of each unit 65, is trained over the vertically movable pulleys of the unit and around the drums 95 and 96, so that the upper stretches 68 of the belts are continuously advancing toward the gateway 56 in the direction of feed.

It will be seen that the upper stretches 68 are normally below the plane of the magazine bottom, and below the paper line 36, when the cam follower 85 is in contact with the low portions of the cam 87. However, with each lift of the cam follower by a raised portion 88 or 89, the rock shafts 76 and 77 are jointly turned to simultaneously bodily lift the friction feed units until the upper stretches 68 are above the plane of the magazine bottom and above the paper line 36. The continuously advancing upper stretches thus engage the underface 45 of each successive lowermost sheet, simultaneously and in parallelism to firmly and frictionally grip and advance the sheet through the gateway 56. Similarly the cam arm 84 lowers all of the continuously advancing upper stretches away from the underface 45 of each successive lowermost sheet, simultaneously and in parallelism to below the bottom of the magazine to disengage and release any frictional engagement with the underface 45 without scuffing the sheets.

Back up means, 102, is preferably included in each friction feed unit 65. As best shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, means 102 includes at least one journal bar, 103, and preferably a pair thereof, 103 and 104, in which a plurality of back up rolls 105 are journalled. The bars 103 and 104 include a hole, such as 106, at one end for receiving the stub shaft 78 and a slot 107 at the other end for receiving the stub shaft 79. The back up rolls 105 provide a firm support for each upper stretch 68 to assure a positive frictional engagement with each sheet.

A rotatable brush, 109, mounted on an eccentric bearing 110 and driven by a power train 111, is also provided for cleaning dust and foreign material from the feed belts.

The hearings in which the rock shafts 76 and 77 are journalled and the hearings in which the shafts of the drums, 95 and 96, are journalled, in one side wall, such as 52, are all carried by a wall panel 112 which is removable by bolts 113. Thus the panel may be removed, leaving the rock shafts and drums temporarily cantilevered, while the belts are replaced.

A return spring may be used on cam arm 84, but it is not essential since the inherent resiliency of the stretchable rubber friction feed belts, plus gravity, tends to retract the feed units below the paper line to achieve a rapid disengagement from the sheets in the stack. The detachable bottom feed magazine 38 of the invention preferably includes a pair of driven feed, or carrier rolls, such as 134 and 135, having a nip 133 on the paper line, for assuring the advance of each successive blank into the nip 33 of the feed rolls 34 and 35.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for feeding fiat sheets individually and successively along the paper line of a sheet treating machine, said apparatus comprising:

a bottom feed magazine having a sheet outlet 'with a gate for passing one sheet at a time and stationary, longitudinally extending laterally spaced stack supports forming a magazine bottom extending in a fixed horizontal plane;

at least one friction feed unit mounted below the plane of said magazine bottom in a space between a pair of adjacent stack supports, said unit including a pair of longitudinally spaced, circular belt pulleys with a horizontal upper stretch of an endless friction belt trained thereover;

back-up means on said friction feed unit, said means extending under said horizontal upper stretch in the space between said pulleys;

elevation mechanism for moving said unit vertically in parallelism with said magazine bottom to a position in which said upper stretch is above the plane of said bottom and for moving said unit vertically downwardly in parallelism with said bottom to a position in which said upper stretch is below the plane of said bottom, said elevation mechanism including a pair of laterally extending rock shafts, a pair of crank arms, each supporting one of said pulleys at one end thereof and each fast to one of said rock shafts at the other end thereof, and a pair of intermeshed, toothed segments, each fast to one of said rock shafts for causing joint actuation of said crank arms;

drive means for continuously driving said belt with said upper stretch advancing in the direction of feed; and

timed mechanism opera-bly connecting said elevation mechanism to the drive of said machine, to actuate the same in timed sequence therewith, said mechanism including a cam arm fixed at one end to one of said rock shafts and having a cam follower at the other end thereof and a rotatable cam operably connected to said cam follower for pivoting said cam arm to raise and lower said crank arms in unison.

2. In combination with a box folding machine of the type having an end feed magazine for bending each successive blank onto the horizontal paper line of the machine:

a bottom feed magazine for feeding flat, unbendable blanks onto said paper line, said magazine comprisdetachable means for supporting said bottom feed magazine on said machine in advance of the end feed magazine thereof;

segregation means on said bottom feed magazine, including an adjustable gate and gateway for passing one unbendable blank at a time onto said paper line;

a stationary bottom on said magazine extending horizontally in a fixed plane;

at least one vertically movable friction feed unit having an endless belt with an upper stretch normally positioned below the plane of said bottom and having back up means for said stretch;

power means for continuously driving the belt of said unit in the direction of feed;

elevation mechanism on said magazine supporting said friction feed unit and adapted to move said upper stretch in parallelism from said normal position to a position above the plane of said magazine bottom, and

timed mechanism operably connecting said elevation mechanism to said machine for raising and lowering said upper stretch in timed sequence to individually and successively feed each lowermost blank from said bottom feed magazine into said machine.

3. Apparatus as specified in claim 2 wherein:

said detachable means includes bracket means at the forward portion of said magazine for supporting said magazine on the feed end of said box folding machine, and

a pair of vertically adjustable legs on the rearward portion of said magazine for supporting said magazine on the floor.

4. A combination as specified in claim 2, wherein:

each said friction feed unit includes a pair of longitudinally spaced, circular pulleys supporting said upper stretch, journal bar means extending between said pulleys and vertically movable therewith, and said back up means comprises a plurality of back up rolls journ alled in said rigid bar means for backing up said upper stretch,

whereby said upper stretch firmly engages the underface of each sheet simultaneously along a substantial area to avoid slippage and mis-feed.

5. A combination as specified in claim 2, wherein:

said drive means includes a pair of longitudinally spaced drums journalled in each opposite side wall of said magazine;

and each said endless belt is of resilient material and trained around around said drums,

whereby operation of said elevation mechanism to raise said belt pulleys, stretches said belt, and the inherent resiliency of said belt forms a return spring for said elevation mechanism.

6. A combination as specified in claim 2, wherein:

said drive means includes a pair of longitudinally spaced, laterally extending drums and said elevation mechanism includes a pair of longitudinally spaced laterally extending rock shafts supporting said friction feed units, said drums and shafts being journalled in each opposite side wall of said magazine, and

one said side wall includes a removable panel containing the journal bearings of said drum and shaft,

whereby said panel may be removed for replacing said belts, while said drums and shafts are supported only on the opposite side wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,279,786 10/1966 Pliegner 27l35 RICHARD E. AEGERTER, Primary Examiner. 

